Days of Preparation
by William Logan
Summary: A prequel to "Day of Reckoning," Magneto assembles his Acolytes in preparation for his revelation of mutants to all of mankind. More to come!
1. Fathers and Sons

Disclaimer: X-Men: Evolution and all related characters are the property of Marvel Entertainment, Inc. If I owned them I'd have a lot more money than I do.  
  
Someone pointed out a maaajor error in this story (originally, at the end of this chapter, Sabretooth was headed for Australia, but I wrote the next chapter differently... oops! Thank you "me," whoever you may be!  
  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
"Days of Preparation"  
By William Logan  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
Chapter 1: "Fathers and Sons"  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
  
Various moans and groans could be heard throughout the Brotherhood Boarding House. They had just suffered their latest defeat by the X-Men, this time at the soccer field. The Brotherhood had tried to reveal themselves to the rest of the world in a proud display of power. The X-Men had quickly defeated them, however, and their mentor Xavier had altered the memories of everyone present, with the exception of his students, and the Brotherhood, of course.  
  
"I'm tellin' ya, Lance, that had to be one of your stupidest plans ever," Todd said, holding an ice pack to his head.  
  
"Shut up!" Lance grabbed the TV Guide and hurled it at Toad, it struck him in the forehead. The younger mutant yelped.  
  
"We woulda pulled it off if it hadn't been for those stupid X-Geeks," Fred grumbled.  
  
"Well, we didn't, so I don't see any purpose in complaining about it," Lance snapped, irritated that his plan had failed so miserably.  
  
"I don't know about you losers, but I'm going to bed," Pietro said, jumping up from the couch, "I have school tomorrow, after all." He sped upstairs in a blue blur.  
  
"Since when did Pietro start caring about school?" Fred blinked. Todd and Lance just shrugged.  
  
"You seen the remote, Freddy?" Todd asked.  
  
"Uhhh," he blushed, "I kinda sat on it."  
  
"Great! That's the second one this month!" Lance groaned, slapping his forehead.  
  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
  
Pietro sat alone in his darkened room, staring at the cell phone that his father had given to him. He had felt it vibrating while he was sitting downstairs with the others and had decided that it would be better to answer it in private. He hadn't heard from Magneto since the destruction of Asteroid M, and wasn't sure if he should answer the phone. After all, if his father hadn't called to make sure that his son had survived the fiery crash of the mutant sanctuary, he obviously couldn't care all that much. He shook his head, dismissing these thoughts, and pressed the button, bringing the phone up to his ear.  
  
"That was a very foolish thing you and your friends did tonight, Pietro," a displeased voice on the other end of the phone said, "it is fortunate that I anticipated your brash move and disabled the communications systems of the news team that was present."  
  
Pietro wanted to tell his father how much he hated him. That the incident wouldn't have happened if Magneto had taken the care to return to the Brotherhood boys and help lead them. "I'm sorry, father," were the words that came out of his mouth.  
  
"It is of no consequence now, Pietro, what has been done is done. There was no damage, and the world has no knowledge of us. Soon, however, everyone will know of our presence here on earth, and they will fear us." His tone was cold, it sent a shiver up Pietro's spine. "I would like you to help me with the revelation, when the time comes. The other members of the Brotherhood must not know of this conversation."  
  
"Of course, father. You know my loyalties lie with you alone," he lied. He was very loyal to his three fellow teammates, although when it came to choosing between his father and the three teens downstairs, the ties of blood always came first.  
  
"Excellent," Magneto said, "Sabretooth and I are assembling a team of mutants with powers far greater than those of our original Brotherhood. They will be my Acolytes, and will bring my message to all mankind that mutants exist on this planet, and that we have no intentions of leaving here. I will be in touch." A soft click and a hiss of static was heard on Pietro's end of the phone.  
  
"Good-bye, father," he said bitterly, tossing the phone onto his night table. Magneto had never been a great father to Quicksilver, but the young mutant was still loyal, in hopes of winning his father's approval.  
  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
  
Magneto placed his phone on its cradle and smiled, looking over to Sabretooth, who had reverted to his original form after the genetic enhancements Magneto had put him through had worn off. The feral mutant remained quiet, watching his leader's every move. He didn't have much belief in the cause, but he also had no desire to appear weak in anyone's eyes, and because of this, he unquestioningly obeyed, always hoping to get revenge on his greatest enemy, Wolverine.  
  
"He has wisely decided to join with us," Magneto said, picking up a large manilla envelope and handing it to Sabretooth, "this is our next potential recruit." Sabretooth opened the envelope and removed the documents inside, studying the papers. "You leave for Russia tomorrow." The mutant's catlike eyes continued scanning the documents, then he nodded, stalking out of the presence of the Master of Magnetism.  
  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
To Be Continued  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/| 


	2. Priorities

|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
Chapter 2: "Priorities"  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
  
Victor Creed snarled as he trudged through the snow towards the farm on which Piotr Rasputin lived. The things he would do for a chance to tear Logan to shreds, he thought to himself. Well, at least he wasn't stuck in a blizzard. The farm was a quaint, little place that most people would have found charming, but Sabretooth would just as soon have torn it to pieces if that was what Magneto had told him to do. Smoke billowed out of the brick chimney of the little wooden farm house. Creed finally made his way to the door and pounded on it, his opinion of a polite way to request access to somewhere, although given the weak construction of the door, it would probably have exploded into a shower of splinters if he had knocked on it any harder. The door opened, and on the other side was a tiny blonde-haired girl, who ran away in fright when she saw Sabretooth.  
  
"Illyana, who was it?" He heard a deep voice say in Russian, a language he had picked up during his days with the Weapon X project. A man almost as tall as Sabretooth himself came to the door and looked at the stranger, "how can I help you?"  
  
"I'm here to see Piotr Rasputin, on personal business," Sabretooth replied, his Russian perfect, even down to the regional accent.  
  
"You've found him... come inside, please," Sabretooth complied, shaking the snow off of his boots and stepping inside, glancing around at his surroundings. The home was tiny, but rather cozy. The little girl who had initially greeted Sabretooth was hiding behind her mother on the couch, Piotr's father and brother both stood nearby. "I don't believe we've met... mister...?"  
  
"Creed, Victor Creed," he said, frowning a bit, "cute kid you've got there... she your sister?" He hated to be so pleasant, and it showed.  
  
"Da, her name is Illyana... please, sit," he gestured to a wooden chair by the fireplace. Creed complied with the softest of growls, not very pleased to be forced to stick around longer than necessary.  
  
"I'm here to talk about your... gift," Sabretooth said, getting right to the point. All the members of the family went silent, staring at the man, "I represent a cause important to people like us. We heard about your incident with the tractor... and we want to know if you will be willing to help us." The feral mutant went on to explain the details of Magneto's cause, always hitting the key points about the bigotry that mutants face in the future, and the danger to their families. Piotr looked somewhat uncomfortable when Sabretooth mentioned that he would be required to leave home. "So, are you willing to leave your home here and aid Magneto and his worthy cause?" Sabretooth could barely say it without puking, he couldn't stand to hear such propaganda come out of his own mouth. Piotr paused and took a deep breath.  
  
"Mama... papa... I think I should go with him to help Magneto," tears filled his eyes, as well as those of his parents and sister, "it is the right thing to do, I believe."  
  
"Then do what you must," his father said. Illyana leaped out of her mother's arms and ran up to Piotr, throwing her arms around him and beginning to cry. It took everything within Sabretooth not to roll his eyes, but he managed it. Within ten minutes, Piotr had packed all of his belongings, which were truly very few. Creed had to sit through a tearful farewell filled with several "I love you"s from each party before he and Piotr actually exited into the snow, leaving the other Rasputins standing in the doorway, watching their son depart with his new colleague.  
  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
  
The pair arrived back at Magneto's headquarters in one of the large metal sphere's Magneto had devised for transportation. Piotr stepped out, looking disoriented, and Sabretooth followed, stalking off to his quarters to rest. Magneto walked in and smiled.  
  
"Greetings, Piotr, and welcome... I am Magneto. I have heard much about you... that you can turn yourself into a human Colossus of sorts."  
  
"Da, I can," Piotr said, switching over to English, a language that he was only somewhat familiar with. With a look of concentration on his face, his skin began to transform into organic steel, shining in the light. He grew several inches in height and his already large muscles appeared to bulge further. Even his eyes and hair underwent a transformation.  
  
"Truly incredible," Magneto said, clapping his hands together. A look of pride crossed Piotr's face, "from now on, you will go by the name Colossus." The Russian mutant nodded, shifting back into his regular form. "You will be the mightiest of all my Acolytes, and humanity shall tremble at your very name. Please, attend me." Magneto turned, his cape dramatically sweeping behind him, and guided Colossus into the main control room of his lair. Here, he filled Colossus's head with propaganda that the young, naive mutant ate up. By the end of it all, Colossus was fully convinced that humans were evil and that Magneto was some sort of deity. In the following weeks, Colossus and Sabretooth trained together, preparing for a day in the not too distant future that Magneto always spoke about. A day when mutants would be revealed to all of mankind. As time passed, Magneto's health began to fail, the effects of his genetic enhancements fading. However, his will was as strong as iron. One day, he approached Colossus with a mission in mind for him.  
  
"You will be going to Australia," he said, his wrinkled features turned up in a smile, "to recruit a newly emerged mutant by the name of St. John Allerdyce. Sabretooth will accompany you."  
  
"Da, Lord Magneto, it shall be done," Colossus said.  
  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
To Be Continued  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/| 


	3. To the Flame

Well, after seeing "Mainstream," it seems Magneto is manipulating at least one of his Acolytes, perhaps all of them? Well, of course he is! I have a few theories, and I'll see what I can do with them. :)  
  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
Chapter 3: To the Flame  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
  
Sabretooth and Colossus walked through the Australian Outback, finding the heat to be quite unbearable. Sabretooth refused to show any signs of weakness, but Colossus was visibly fatigued, he was definitely not used to heat of any sort.  
  
"Do you suppose we shall find this mutant soon, Comrade Sabretooth?" Piotr asked, wiping the sweat from his brow.  
  
"I'm sure we'll bump into him sooner or later... I pickin' up a scent," Creed muttered, his long blonde hair getting caught in a sudden breeze. The area smelled of gasoline, and... "Get down!" Sabretooth shouted, shoving the Russian mutant to the ground. An explosion shook the ground around the two of them, flames flying high into the sky and transforming into an immense dragon of pure fire. It sprouted wings and flew over the pair of sprawling mutants, then suddenly vanished into thin air. Not too far off, laughter could be heard.  
  
"You should have seen the looks on your bloomin' faces!" they heard a boy cry. Sabretooth leapt to his feet and whirled, his duster sweeping behind him. A young blonde haired kid was nearly doubled over in laughter, in his hand was a box of matches and a gasoline can.  
  
"You think that was funny, you little---" Sabretooth snarled and leapt at the lad, seizing him by the collar and holding him several inches off the ground, "we'll see if you think it's so funny after I rip your...." a heavy hand came to rest on Creed's shoulder. He turned to see Colossus standing behind him, a look of strong disapproval on his face.  
  
"Lord Magneto wanted him unharmed." Said the Russian, his tone the epitome of seriousness.  
  
"Hey, mate, I think you should listen to the bloke," the boy said, squirming to get away from Sabretooth, "it was just a little fun, after all... no real harm done, right?"  
  
"You St. John Allerdyce?" Creed growled, dropping the young mutant.  
  
"Yeah, that's the name... who wants to know?" he said as he fell to his knees, having not been quite prepared for the sudden fall. He dusted himself off and stood, a cocky grin on his face.  
  
"A man who can help you learn to control your powers, my young friend, and use them for the good of our kind," Colossus said.  
  
"Well, as you can see, I've got pretty good control already! It's your friend's sense of humor that needs work," he chuckled. Sabretooth let off a low growl, "sure, why not... these powers have been nothing but trouble. Dear ol' dad threw me out of the house when he found out about them!" Creed was somewhat happy with this response, he didn't even have to go through the whole speech with this one. The three made their way back to the metal spheres, the flame-controlling mutant talking rapidly the entire time. What I wouldn't give to shut that mouth of his.... Sabretooth thought to himself as he stepped into his sphere, glad that he couldn't hear John when it finally closed. The trip back to Magneto's headquarters was an uneventful one, and John thankfully hadn't discovered the comm systems. The spheres opened and they were greeted by Magneto, clad in his usual red and purple battle armor, dramatic red helmet on his head. Sabretooth stalked off to his room to escape from hearing about Magneto's grand scheme, a move which did not go unnoticed by the mutant master of magnetism.  
  
"So you are the mutant who calls himself Pyro, welcome," Magneto grinned in a fatherly manner.  
  
"Yeah, I thought the name fit," he said with a smile. Magneto nodded, telling Pyro all about his plans for a world dominated by mutants, and the teenager seemed to eat it up, especially the parts involving him using his powers in destructive ways. After a few minutes of talk like this, Pyro went off to his room to get comfortable, leaving Magneto and Colossus alone.  
  
"Piotr, there is something I must tell you," Magneto said, turning to the large Russian, "I was contacted by your family earlier." Colossus's face grew pale as Magneto told him the news.  
  
"I must return to them at once!" He said, tears welling up in his eyes.  
  
"Do not worry, Colossus," Magneto said, resting a hand on the young mutant's shoulder, "I will care for the family of anyone who serves my cause willingly." The way he spoke the words implied that if Colossus left the Acolytes, the care would be lifted. It sent chills down Piotr's spine to hear the cold words so warmly spoken. For now, he would have to remain under the dictates of the master of magnetism, his loyalties fully to him.  
  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
To Be Continued  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/| 


	4. Stealing Immortality

|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
Chapter 4: Stealing Immortality  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
  
The young man in sunglasses and trenchcoat was hardly noticed on the streets of his native New Orleans. Most of the people thereabouts were used to seeing Remy LeBeau wandering the streets, alone, charming the young girls with a grin and stealing their hearts away. Little did they know that he was stealing more than just that. He ducked into an alleyway, picking a wallet out of one of his pockets and a Rolex out of the other, lowering his glasses to appraise them with his red-on-black eyes.  
  
"Well, LeBeau, jou outdid jouself t'day... dis has gotta be d'best lift jou've made dis week." He grinned, tucking the items back into his pocket.  
  
"Still robbin' the rich t'give to yourself, LeBeau?" He heard a voice from behind him. He looked up to see an unfortunately familiar face, that of Victor Creed.  
  
"Ah, M'Sieur Tooth... what can I do fo' jou dis lovely day?"  
  
"Puke up a gallon of blood and die after I finish thrashing the living daylights out of you," he replied, an evil glint in his eyes, "but I'm not here for fun, I'm here on business."  
  
"Someone else's business, I gather," LeBeau said, lightly scratching at his stubble.  
  
"You're a frickin' genius," Sabretooth said, rolling his eyes, "my boss, Magneto, is looking for someone who can steal some technology for him."  
  
"What? Some sorta corporate espionage t'ing? Gambit don' deal in dat kinda t'ing," the Cajun replied.  
  
"What, you too moral for that, LeBeau," his words were pointed, there was definitely something that he knew, some deep, dark secret from Gambit's past that he was just dying to let out, "no, it's nothing like that, more like ensuring the survival of mutantkind."  
  
"Hey, whatever I can do t'help out m'fellow freaks, jou now?" Gambit grinned, "of course, some of us are more freakish than others." Creed let off a low growl as he lead LeBeau back to his metal sphere.  
  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
  
Magneto looked over the new arrival with a nod of approval, "So this is the master thief that Sabretooth told me about?"  
  
"Da one an' only, monsieur," Gambit said, taking a deep bow, "jou can hold da applause fo' now, though... don' wan' make certain others 'round here feel less worthy." He winked at Sabretooth and returned to a normal standing position. "So, what can I do fo' jou, mon capitan?"  
  
"Have you heard of Captain America, Gambit?" Magneto said, crossing the room to a large console, tapping a few buttons, bringing up an image of Steve Rogers, Captain America in all his glory, holding his star spangled shield proudly.  
  
"Oui, of course... ever'one in dis country heard o' him... da great World War II hero. Decent guy, I've heard, saved lots of people from da concentration camps. Though if I were t'critique da man, I'd say dat da li'l wings have got t'go." Magneto ignored the Cajun's attempt at humor and made a dramatic gesture towards the screen.  
  
"He is the product of a government experiment called Operation: Rebirth. The same device that increased his strength, however, also destroyed him on a cellular level," Magneto said, turning back to Gambit with a sweep of his cape, then pulled up an image of a small, skinny blonde man in a glass tube. Light flashed and smoke filled the tube, obscuring the man from view, in moments, the smoke vanished and the man had transformed into the Steve Rogers Gambit recognized, sans his Captain America costume, "I want you to steal the Rebirth chamber for me."  
  
"Don' jou t'ink it may not be such a good idea, seein' as how Cap didn' make it too long after da process?"  
  
"Only because he was a mere human," Magneto said, his eyes aglow, "the Rebirth chamber has no ill effects on mutants. I need it to prolong my life so I can continue my work preparing mutantkind for its inevitable war against humanity."  
  
"So lemme get dis straight, homme, jou want me to sneak into some top secret gov'nment facility and steal all dis equipment? Dat don' sound too hard... dere must be a catch somewhere."  
  
"The 'catch', as you put it, is that the Rebirth chamber is in pieces in different parts of the said government installation. You are going to obtain these pieces so that I may rebuild the machine and rejuvenate myself. In the meantime, I shall be traveling to New York to investigate this 'Angel' I have heard so much about on the news. I believe he may be a newly emerged mutant and I may be able to persuade him to join our cause."  
  
"I may need some help gettin' da equipment out of da facility," Gambit said, stroking at his chin, watching Magneto as he touched a few buttons to bring up a schematic of the installation the Cajun thief would be sneaking into.  
  
"The rest of my Acolytes will assist you. I wish you good luck," Magneto turned and exited. Gambit glanced back at Sabretooth, who was staring hard at him. "Well, dis should be interestin' t'say da least..."  
  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
To Be Continued  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/| 


	5. A Master at Work

|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
Chapter 5: A Master at Work  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
  
"I'm in," Gambit said quietly into his radio as he crawled through the air ducts of the government installation. He moved silently, careful not to tip off the guards below him to his movements.  
  
"That's not exactly the hard part, LeBeau," he heard Sabretooth's voice crackle through his headset, "getting back out again with the equipment is."  
  
"Hey, leave dat t'me... I'm da t'ief, remember?" He sighed, mentally going over the schematics he had studied back at Magneto's citadel. He approached an intersection in the duct and took the path to the right, crawling down a few more meters before stopping at a grate. "All right, I'm at da storage room, maintain radio silence." He felt rather covert ops using phrases like that. Glanced through the grate into the darkness below, straining his eyes, attempting to see the items he was supposed to be retrieving. He placed his hand on the grate, charging it up to small degree and then shielding his eyes when it blew into hundreds of tiny shards. He slithered through the grate, dropping to the ground and landing with feline grace. He pulled a card out of his pocket and charged it, holding the charge in order to provide light. "Merde..." he muttered.  
  
"Hey, watch the language in there, Cajun, or Papa Sabretooth is gonna hafta come in there and wash your mouth out with soap," he heard Creed snicker on the other end of the radio.  
  
"We got a problem here," Gambit said, "dis room is completely empty." He gazed all around him at the metal walls, all reflecting back the soft orange glow that his card gave off.  
  
"Well, this mission was a screw-up then... abort, I repeat, abort," Sabretooth growled.  
  
"Eh... I don' t'ink so, mon ami," Gambit said, switching his radio headset off. Remy LeBeau was a master thief, and he never failed in the jobs he was given... never. He leaped up and crawled back into the air duct, slithering along quickly but silently, following the schematics he had memorized, taking all the necessary turns to get to his destination. He smiled when he finally saw a few shafts of light coming out of a grate on the side of the air duct. He drew to a stop and glanced down, looking into a sparsely decorated office, a military officer in olive drab sitting behind an old wooden desk going over some paperwork. Gambit waited silently for what seemed like forever, although in reality, it was only about half an hour, until the officer finally stood up and walked out of his office. Remy quickly went to work, blowing the grate out and hopping down next to the desk. He moved to the filing cabinet and found, much to his pleasure, that it was unlocked. He quickly thumbed through the documents, finally getting to the "O"s. He heard voices coming down the hall toward the office that he was in. He grabbed a rather thick red folder labeled "Operation: Rebirth" and stuffed it in his trenchcoat. He grabbed his deck of cards out of his pocket and quickly found a Joker, his calling card, and left it on the desk of the officer. As he made his way to the opposite side of the office to escape he heard the doorknob begin to turn.  
  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
  
Sabretooth, Colossus, and Pyro had been laying flat on the ground, watching for any signs of trouble in the military compound from about half a kilometer away in a wooded area. Pyro looked quite eager to get some action out of the whole experience, Colossus looked rather concerned about something, and Sabretooth just looked vexed, although that was quite common for him. The all jumped, slightly startled, when alarms began to sound from within the compound.  
  
"Great, the Cajun got himself caught," Sabretooth snarled, "let's get back to the orbs."  
  
"But what about Comrade LeBeau," Colossus asked as he watched Sabretooth begin to stalk back to the clearing where they had landed, "are we just going to abandon him?"  
  
"The kid had a problem taking orders, and if you start questioning mine, you're going to have to answer for it, got it," Creed bared his fangs at Colossus and Pyro, prompting both of them to get up quickly and followed them. They went about four feet before the bumped into a familiar figure, standing directly in their path, wearing a trenchcoat and the grin of a schoolboy who just stole some candy without getting caught.  
  
"Jou weren' gon' leave jou ol' pal Remy behin', now where jou, M'Sieur Tooth? Dat wouldn' be very polite at all." Sabretooth just growled and continued walking.  
  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
  
Magneto flipped through the pages of the file Gambit had brought him, a hacking cough plaguing him every few moments. His battle with the two X-Men had surprisingly taken quite a toll on him. If only the "Angel" had been more willing to see things the way Magneto saw them, things would be so much simpler. The goals Erik Magnus Lensherr had set before himself were not for the weak of heart, apparently, and Gambit was certainly a mutant with quite a grasp on that.  
  
"An excellent job," Magneto said, "I will retrieve the device myself. Sabretooth, you will come with me and the rest of you shall remain behind. I will return shortly, greatly rejuvenated by the power of the machine." And with those final parting words, he turned and left Colossus, Gambit, and Pyro to sit and wait for his return.  
  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|  
To Be Continued  
|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/| 


End file.
